The Next Generation
by TheAnimeFicWriter
Summary: Times have changed and it's time for the next generation to take over. Many things change, but some things stay the same. How will Konoha deal with everything that happens on the inside?
1. Chapter 1

The Next Generation

Chapter 1

Their Idols

 **Note:** Hello everyone, I've been wanting to write a story about Boruto and the new generation, but I've been spending a lot of time making sure everything works out. Before I start, I do want to say that there will be some things that I use from the official stuff like the manga and Boruto the Movie. I hope this doesn't affect anyone. I just liked what they did and wanted to expand it into a longer, more thought-out story. As of right now, I don't have a day when I can update this normally so be sure to stick around and I'll figure it out eventually. I keep you guys informed as the story takes off, but I hope you guys enjoy the first chapter.

"So how was training today?"

"It was easy. I was able to do it all by myself. It just sucks that 4 Shadow Clones are my limit. If I could make more then…"

"Boruto." Naruto's voice was stern. "That's not why you're out there. You're supposed to learn how to work as a team. I trust that you're sensei is doing his job correctly." He looked at Konohamaru who could only scratch his head with a half-assed smile. That's when he sighed. "You need to understand the importance of teamwork. Without it, you won't succeed as a shinobi."

"Ugh, you've told me this before."

"Then you should understand it by now."

Knock knock. Everyone turned their heads as the door to the Hokage's office opened up. A man with a mysterious aura walked in. Only two people in the room knew who it was. It was Sasuke.

"Naruto, are you busy?"

"We'll talk later."

Team 7 bowed to him and left. However, Sarada stayed behind for a few more seconds.

"Hokage-sama, I'm really sorry about Boruto. We try to tell him about not going solo, but he always thinks he can do it without us."

"It's alright, Sarada. You don't need to strain yourself over this. I'll talk to him later. Keep up the hard work," he said with a smile. On the other hand, Sarada immediately got flustered and headed towards the door.

"Hi dad," she said as she passed Sasuke. All Sasuke did was put his hand on her shoulder as she passed by.

"So what's up Sasuke?"

…

"Ugh, my dad is always in his moods."

"What are you talking about? Lord Seventh just wants to make sure that you're on the right track to being the best shinobi that you can be. Also, you're his son. He kind of expects you to be strong."

"Well, what about you? You're the daughter of the only person who can rival my dad. No one puts you on a pedestal."

At that moment, Sarada snapped for a second. She clenched her fist, but tried to remain calm.

"Boruto, I don't know if you realize this, but we all progress at our own pace. I'm where I am because that's how I am. You, on the other hand, have progressed faster than anyone else and yet, you're known as the troublemaker kid."

"Uh, Sarada, you don't make any sense."

"Whatever. I gotta go. My mom's probably wondering where I am." Sarada waved to them goodbye and went off on her own. Boruto did the same thing and Mizuki was left alone as per usual.

…

After their meeting, Sasuke walked through the street to head home. However, he quickly halted by a minor incursion. Boruto jumped from the sky and tried landing on Sasuke. Unfortunately, Sasuke disappeared before his attack could even do anything. Boruto looked around frantically until he realized too late that Sasuke was standing right behind him. Sasuke kicked his legs out from under him and pushed him to the ground.

"Guh! Hey, what the heck?!"

"I think that's the question I should be asking you." Sasuke got a good look at the kid and realized who he was. "Oh, you're Naruto's kid, right."

"Yeah. I'm Uzumaki Boruto, the greatest shinobi that ever lived."

"Hm, how similar."

"Huh? What was that?"

"Forget it. Why did you try to attack me?"

"Because I heard rumors that you're the only one who could rival my dad. Is that true? I need to know."

"Hasn't Naruto already talked to you about stuff like this?"

"Yeah, but that came from his mouth. I want to hear it from the person who has gone face-to-face with him."

"Yes, it's true. Why do you care so much about this?"

"Because I want to get stronger. I want to learn from you." Boruto suddenly bowed to him. "Please take me in as your disciple."

"Huh? Why don't you ask your dad?"

"He doesn't understand. He's too busy being Hokage. That's why I wanted to ask you. You're strong and so much cooler than he is."

"You definitely got that wrong," he said under his breath.

"Please." Boruto was still leaned over as he waited for Sasuke's response.

"I'll think about it. Stand up straight, you look like a loser."

When Boruto looked up, he saw Sasuke walking off in his silence. That's when he couldn't help but think about how cool that guy is. He wanted to be his student so badly and he was determined to do anything and everything in his power to make it become a reality.

…

Knock knock.

"Yes, who is it?"

"Um, Lord Seventh…" Sarada poked her head into the Hokage's office. "Are you busy right now?"

"Well, I wouldn't say I'm busy. Is there something that you need?"

"I was just wondering if I could talk to you."

"Sure, I think I'm able to give you a couple of minutes. Come on in."

Sarada came in with a smile on her face and stood in the middle of the room.

"So what's up? Is this about your training?"

"Sort of."

"Well, don't worry about it too much. I can see that your team is one of the most capable ones out there. When the Chunin exams come around, I'm sure your team will do fine."

"No, it's not that. I was wondering… You've wanted to be Hokage ever since you were my age, right?"

"Pretty much, and look where I'm at now. I'm Hokage and it's completely different than I originally thought. I thought it be all about showing my strength, but doing this instead isn't that bad, I guess."

"I want to be Hokage too." Sarada suddenly bowed to him and closed her eyes.

"You do?"

"I do. I don't know why, but for some reason, I've wanted to be Hokage for quite some time now. Hokage-sama, why did you want to be Hokage?"

"Why?" He looked at Sarada who stood back from her bow and take a step closer to him. "Well, for me, it was all about being accepted. I'm the Jinchuuriki, as you should know. Back in the old days, people didn't like the idea of having a Jinchuuriki in the village so I was discriminated from everything. When I heard about the Hokage and what they could do, I knew I had to be the next one. That's when I would be accepted. That's when I would be able to make a difference in this world."

Sarada's face started to light up with joy. Naruto didn't know it, but his words were touching her heart. At that moment, she bowed once again.

"Lord Seventh, please take me in as your student. I want to learn under you. I want to be strong enough to protect the ones. I want to make a difference as well. You're the person I look up to the most. Please accept me as your student."

Naruto was caught off guard by this request. He's never actually had a student before. Konohamaru is the closest person to being his student, but that was only because they were close friends and rivals. Now that Sarada was in front of him, asking this of him, he had to think about this. She was Sasuke's daughter so he was wondering why she would ask him and not Sasuke, her own father.

"Sarada, uh, let's just calm down for a second. You know you have Konohamaru as your team sensei, right?"

"I know, but I can't relate to him. I've tried, but he just has a different approach to certain things. Don't get me wrong, I love Konohamaru-sensei. I just don't think he guide to where I want to go."

"Hm, I guess that's understandable. When I was your age, I had three teachers who all specialized in something different and that helped me get stronger."

"So will you do it?"

Naruto looked at Sarada and could see that she was completely genuine. He could see the determination in her eyes which kind of reminded him of himself when he was younger.

"Well, I can't guarantee that I'd give a lot of time since I am quite busy all of the time, but…"

"I don't care. As long as you're my sensei, I'll work harder than any other shinobi in the village. I promise to not let you down."

"Sarada, have you asked your father about this?"

"Um, not really. My father is hard to approach."

"I see. Well, I'll talk to him about this and I'll be sure to let you know soon. I do appreciate you wanting to learn under me."

"Thank you, Lord Seventh. Sarada smiled brightly and then left his office. After she left, he spun his chair around and looked out towards the village.

"This generation is something special. I'm sure they will surpass us in no matter."

End of Chapter 1


	2. Chapter 2

The Next Generation

Chapter 2

Contemplating

"I'm home."

"Welcome back."

"Hinata, is Boruto home?"

"No, not yet. Why?"

"There is something I need to talk to you about."

"Okay, what's up?"

"Papa!" Himawari came running into the room with her arms spread towards him. He bent over and picked her up off the ground. "I missed you."

"I missed you too." He gave her a kiss on the forehead and then the three of them grabbed a seat at the table and started to talk about what had happened.

"What do you think about them?"

"About who?"

"This generation. Do they seem similar in some ways to us?"

"I guess. Boruto is the best example of the new Naruto. He's just like you." Hinata smiled and looked at Naruto, but Naruto had a saddened look on his face. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"I've been trying, but I don't think Boruto is anything like me."

"What? Why would you think that?"

"He's passive and ignorant."

"Well, he's just a kid. What do you expect?"

"Today, when he came to report his training, he told me that he tried to do everything by himself with his clones. His teammates couldn't even support him because they knew he was trying to carry the team with just him. That's not who we shinobi are."

Hinata was starting to gain a loss for words. She wanted to be on Boruto's side, but she did know that he's been straying from the right path for quite some time.

"And another thing. Sarada, Sakura and Sasuke's daughter, came into my office today and asked if I could be her teacher. She told me that she wanted to be Hokage and needed to be stronger in order for that to happen. Boruto has never talked about the word "Hokage" unless he was talking bad about me."

"That's not true."

"Hinata, I know it's true. He's nothing like me." At that moment, there was a long moment of silence. Naruto wasn't sure how to go about continuing the conversation while Hinata was trying to gather everything into one.

"So what are you going to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"Are you going to accept Sarada as your student?"

"I don't know yet. I'm going to talk to Sasuke about this because I don't want to do anything behind his back."

"I'm back." Boruto opened the door and walked in to see an interesting sight. "Dad? You're actually home today or is this a clone?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, you're almost never home. You're always too busy to care about us.

"Boruto, don't talk to you father like that."

"Whatever. I'm going up to my room."

The three of them watched him head up in silence. Once he was out of sight, Naruto stood up and set Himawari down on the chair.

"I told you. He's nothing like me."

…

The day started off early for Naruto. He got ready and headed to Sasuke's place. When he arrived, he knocked on the door and immediately got an answer from Sasuke himself.

"Sasuke, I need to talk to you."

"I actually need to talk to you too."

"Alright, let's do this somewhere private. You know where." Naruto nodded his head and Sasuke returned the gesture. At that moment, Naruto vanished and Sasuke followed a few seconds after him. When they reconvened, they were in the Final Valley.

"So you wanna go first or…"

"I don't really know how to go about saying this so I'll just come out straight. Your daughter asked me to become her personal teacher. Please don't get mad at me." Naruto closed his eyes and slapped his hands together. However, there was no noticeable reaction from Sasuke. This caused him to open his eyes to see quite the opposite.

"Really? Your son asked me to become his personal teacher as well." At that moment, the two of them thought long and hard about what they had just told each other.

"Eh?! My daughter asked you?!"

"I think the real question is why my son asked you?!"

"Hey, you trying to start something?"

"Of course not. I just find it strange that our kids asked the other parents for guidance."

"Well, to be honest, I've been having this feeling that Sarada doesn't really relate to me."

"Seriously? I've had this thought that Boruto isn't anything like me."

"Huh? I guess we have our answer right there."

"Uuh, we do?"

"I mean, I think we do. Our kids have chosen their paths. It's exactly like when we were their age. You and I are two ends of the spectrum and they've decided which one to follow."

"I guess you're right. So what should we do now?"

"Well, I don't see any problem in having them as our students. The only thing problem is you being Hokage. If Sarada becomes your student, will you even have time to teach her properly?"

"That's the other thing. I wanted to consult you first. Are you okay with me teaching your daughter?"

"I don't mind at all. She's been quite stubborn towards me so I think learning under you would help her a lot more."

"And I think I feel the same way with Boruto. He needs a different kind of person to teach him and I definitely think it's you."

"So we have our answers."

"Alright. I guess we're doing this."

"Good luck and may the best teacher win."

"Eh?!"

"What? You don't want to make this a competition?"

"Not when we're competing against our own kid."

"Jeez, Naruto, you are no fun anymore. I remember when you were the life of the party. That was when you were actually cool, but I guess you've fallen into the slump of being an old geezer like every other Hokage."

"Hold it, Sasuke! If you want to make this a competition, we can make this a competition."

"Alright, what are we betting?"

"At the Chunin Exams, during the individual rounds, whichever student scores better will get to make the other teacher do whatever they say. Deal?"

"Interesting, but I think I can take you on. Deal." They shook hands and parted ways.

…

Boruto was walking down the street in his normal fashion when Sasuke appeared behind him and took him away. Boruto tried fighting back, but it was no use. After a while, they appeared in the forest just outside the village when Sasuke threw him on the ground and waited for him to question the situation.

"Hey, what the heck was that for?"

"I told you I would think about your request. I thought about it."

"And?"

"I've decided to accept it. Starting today, you are my student."

"Alright! Yes!"

"Hold it! Don't get too comfortable. If this going to work out, I expect you work at your greatest without falter. If I see the tiniest bit of slacking off from you, you can forget about your training with me."

"Okay. I understand." Boruto stood straight up and gave Sasuke a salute. "Sasuke-sensei, thank you."

"We are start training now."

"Eh?!"

…

Sarada was sitting around at home with Sakura when a peculiarly looking kunai flew through the window and landed in the wall. The two of them quickly noticed this and grabbed the note that was attached to the kunai.

"Sarada, it says that the Hokage is asking for your presence."

Her face suddenly lit up with excitement as she grabbed her things and headed out of the house in the blink of an eye.

"Wait, are you heading there now?"

"Of course I am. I'll be back soon. Bye!"

"Bye."

After a few minutes, she arrived at the Hokage's office. She knocked on the door and entered right as she was allowed in.

"Lord Seventh, is this what I think it is about?"

"Sarada, I've thought long and hard about this. It was a difficult decision since I am the Hokage. To give my time to one student in particular while protecting the village is too risky."

At that moment, her face suddenly lost its brightness as she started to understand where he was going with this.

"Lord Seventh, please…"

"However, I've taken bigger risks in my life when compared to this. From here on out, I will be your teacher. You may call me Naruto-sensei."

Her face suddenly lit up once again, but this time, it had an even greater intensity than a few minutes ago.

"Are you serious?"

"I am very serious. I am taking you in as my student. However…"

"I completely understand, Lord Seventh. I will have to work extra hard to make sure that I won't let you down, but you won't have to worry about that. I promise to be the greatest student you have ever worked with. I won't let you down."

"Haha, you're awfully chipper."

"How can I not be? I get to learn under the great Seventh Hokage. This is such an honor. I don't know what to say."

"You don't need to say. All you need to do is show me your gratitude in your training."

"I will."

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu." At that moment, a huge toad appeared outside of the Hokage building. "Gamakichi, are you busy right now?"

"Of course not."

"Alright, I'm asking you to look after the village for me. I'm going to Mt. Myouboku. If anything happens, just return and I'll know that something's wrong."

"Okay, you can count on me."

"Mt. Myouboku? Sensei, where is that? What's going on?"

"We're starting your training now."

End of Chapter 2


	3. Chapter 3

The Next Generation

Chapter 3

The Path of Indra

At that moment, Sasuke pulled out a kunai and lunged towards Boruto. However, Boruto wasn't ready for this so he jumped out of the way, demanding a better handle on the situation by Sasuke.

"How is this training? Aren't you supposed to teach me what to do?"

"It's better to learn on the go. Are you going to try and attack or are you just going to cower like a child?"

Boruto bit his lip in frustration.

"Alright, let's do this. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." He created four other clones and head them attack Sasuke from all sides. However, this didn't prove to be very effective.

Sasuke made quick work of his clones until he found the real one. He punched him in the gut and then threw him across the open field. However, Boruto wasn't done yet. He weaved his signs and created the fire dragon jutsu. Sasuke was too though. He was already gone before the jutsu was even released. Before he knew, Sasuke appeared behind Boruto and knocked him on the ground once again.

"This isn't fair. You're supposed to teach me stuff, not beat me up like a punching bag."

"Boruto, this is training. If you don't see it then you really need to open your eyes."

"Can't you just teach me something?"

Sasuke looked at him with a really dark look on his face, but then he suddenly gave in to him.

"Show me you're Kage Bunshin."

"Why?"

"Just do it."

"Alright." He weaved his fingers into the sign and created four clones of himself. "There, is that good enough for you?"

"Is that all you can do?"

"What do you mean? This is a lot."

"Is four clones all you can make?"

"Yeah."

Sasuke sighed and threw up his hand to weave the sign. At that moment, 10 other clones appeared around Boruto which surprised him. He had no idea that Sasuke could do something like this. The only other person he's seen who uses Shadow Clones was his dad.

"So you're telling me that you're the son of the Seventh Hokage and you can only make four clones?"

"Yeah, why are you being so critical?"

"Because I agreed to be your teacher. I specifically explained that I expect you to work your hardest. When your dad was your age, he was able to make at least a hundred clones. I never even use this technique and I can still make more than you. From what I can see, you are nowhere near your father's level."

At that moment, Boruto's face erupted with rage.

"Hey, you have no place to talk to me like that. I hate being compared to my dad. He's so lame. I don't know why I'm his kid. I didn't want this. He thinks he can do so much when doesn't do anything at all. And to make it worse, so many people think that I'll follow his footsteps, but I won't. Being Hokage is stupid. I…" Boruto suddenly saw Sasuke walking off in silence. "Fine! Leave! I don't need you as a teacher."

At that moment, the strangest thing happened to Boruto. He was suddenly teleported in front of where Sasuke was walking. Sasuke then knelt down, pulled out his kunai, and looked him in the eye. That's when Boruto backed down. This was the first time he was looking at Sasuke in depth and that's when he saw his eyes. One had a menacing red glow and the other was mysteriously purple.

"You talk bad about your father, but you don't realize any of it. Your father is the strongest ninja this world has ever seen. He's done more for this world than you could ever imagine. You better shape up that attitude or else me teaching you will be completely worthless."

Sasuke quickly disarmed himself and walked off in silence. Meanwhile, Boruto could only stand there in shock. That aura that Sasuke had was unlike anything he's ever felt. He turned around and watched Sasuke leave.

"What the heck? I don't need you anyway."

…

The door opened and Sasuke walked into his house. Sakura popped her head into the hallway to see Sasuke walking in.

"Hey, you're home?"

"Yeah, what's with the question?"

"Well, usually your visits here are short. Once you meet with Naruto, you leave immediately after that."

"No, not this time." Sasuke put his stuff away and then sat down on the couch. "I think I'll be staying her for a while."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, something came up so I'm forced to stay here."

"What do you mean?"

Sasuke sighed and turned around to walk into the kitchen where Sakura was. He suddenly wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his head on her shoulder. This random act of affectionate really made Sakura nervous. Her face turned bright red and a little chirp erupted from her throat.

"Naruto's son asked me to his teacher and I accepted."

"R-Really?"

"Yeah, and I tried teaching him for the first time today and things did not go well."

"What happened?"

"I told him that his ability is not where it should be. I told him about Naruto and what he was able to do at his age and that's when he lost it. He threw a fit about it, but I had to set him straight."

"You didn't do anything bad, did you?"

"Of course not. I just did my normal thing."

"But your normal thing sometimes can be kind of scary."

"But that kid needs scary. He's Naruto's kid, but he's nothing like him. That kid's mind is not where it should be."

"So what are you going to do?"

"Well, I'll give him some time to think about what I said, but I won't be able to change the way I teach him. He has to be the one to change because if he doesn't, he won't be able to learn anything from me."

"Well, why doesn't he just learn from Naruto?"

"I talked to Naruto about this and he believed that I would be a better teacher for him. I mean, just from what I've told you, do you really think Naruto could teach him? He's almost like me when I think about it. Just a little more rebellious."

"Wow, I had no idea this was going on."

"Yeah, things are definitely getting interesting." Sasuke gently lifted his head off of her shoulder and then left the kitchen. "Hey, where's Sarada?"

"I don't know. She might be with Naruto. He sent a message for her, but nothing else so I don't really know. Why?"

"No. It was just a question. I guess he's already started too. I hope he's having better luck with her than I am with Boruto."

"This is strange. Usually small things like this don't bother you. Usually you just brush it off or act like it didn't even happen to you."

"I know, but this is different. I don't want to let Naruto down. And besides, Boruto went out of his way to ask me if I could teach him so I have to respect his courage."

"Wow, I like this Sasuke. He's so different. He's kind and caring. Why can't you always be like this?"

"Oh, give me a break. This is nothing."

…

Boruto was trudging through town with a fiery, hot head. He couldn't believe what he just went through. He thought Sasuke was the cool one and yet, he seemed just the opposite. To Boruto, he seemed very demanding and ruley… Just like his dad. That's when he couldn't stand it anymore. He screamed at the top of his lungs and kicked a nearby bench. Unfortunately, the bench was completely metal so it didn't even budge.

"Ow!" He bent over and tried to lessen the pain in his toes. He squeezed his foot as tight as he could and closed his eyes when a thought came into his head. Those last words that Sasuke spoke returned to him in an odd fashion.

 _Shape up that attitude or else me teaching you would be worthless._

"There's nothing wrong with my attitude. It's him who's got the attitude."

End of Chapter 3


	4. Chapter 4

The Next Generation

Chapter 4

The Path of Ashura

Poof! The reverse summoning teleported the two of them to Mt. Myouboku and right as they got there, Sarada was surprised to see where she was. For her, she had no idea a place like this existed so her eyes were constantly wandering, making sure she caught every little small detail that she could. As she continued to look around, a small toad came hopping her way which made her back up a tad.

"Naruto-chan, what brings you here?"

"Hey, old geezer Sage. Well, I just recently took in a student and have decided to train here. I chose this place because it's sacred in nearly every way and I thought that because I trained here to get stronger, she should too."

"I see." He turned his head to look at Sarada and could see a confused look on her face. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Fukasaku. What is your name?"

"Uchiha Sarada."

"Uchiha? Aren't they the people who possess the power of the Sharingan?"

Sarada nodded her head.

"Interesting. I've never met an Uchiha before. Well, I won't want to interrupt any of your training time, but it's nice to meet you. Believe me when I say that you are in safe hands. Naruto-chan is the strongest ninja I've ever met."

"I know. Naruto-sensei is incredible." The two smiled before Fukasaku went off on his own. "Bye."

"Alright, are you ready to train?"

"Of course." She stood up and had a really determined look on her face.

"Alright, well, let's start out with the basics. What elements do you possess?"

"Fire and lightning."

"Ah, so like your father? Has he taught you any strong Ninjutsu?"

"He taught the fireball technique since that's an Uchiha special, but Chidori has been a little on the slow side."

"Okay. We'll have to wait on that since I need to catch up on the scrolls for some of the other elements.

"What about you, Naruto-sensei? What elements do you possess?"

"Me? Haha, well… I kind of possess a lot of them."

"Really? Like what?"

"Aside from the normal ones, I also can use lava, magnet, and other ones. It's all thanks to the Sage of Six Paths."

"Oh yeah, I heard about him from my dad. He told me that he was so powerful that he separated the 10-tails into their respective beasts that we know now."

"Yep, and he gave me a small portion of each of the tailed beasts' chakra."

"Wow, that's so cool."

"Alright, enough of the small talk. Because you're an Uchiha, things are going to get interesting. What's the maturity of your Sharingan?" When Naruto looked into Sarada's eyes, she started to get a little nervous. She looked down and fumbled her thumbs.

"I-I only have them matured to one tomoe. I'm sorry." She suddenly bowed to him for no reason."

"Why are you apologizing? And stand up straight. There's no need to bow unless it's for official, formal things. Anyway, why are you apologizing to me?"

"Because you agreed to take me in as your student and I vowed to work as hard as I can. I feel bad because my eyes are not where they should be. Even my dad was at the second stage of maturity when he was my age." Sarada avoided eye contact with Naruto until she felt two hands rest on her shoulders. That's when she looked up to see Naruto standing right in front of her.

"You don't need to apologize for that. Everyone grows at their own pace. However, we're going to speed up that process as much as we can. Thanks to Sasuke, I know a lot more about the Sharingan and one of the major things he said was the use it for as long as possible. Maximizing its usage time will help you get a better handle on your own power as well as attempt to further its use. Shall we try it?"

"How?"

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." At that moment, at least a hundred clones were created around her. "Try to find the real me."

"But that's easy, you're standing right in…"

All of the clones around her threw smoke bombs into the ground, crippling her normal eyesight. When the smoke was cleared, the clones were still around her, but it was obvious that the real one was no longer standing right in front of her. She took a deep breath and activated her Sharingan. She calmly looked around at all of the clones, but something immediately caught her attention. All of their chakra flows were the same. She couldn't distinguish which one was the real one. She walked around and carefully examined all of the ones that she could, but it was no use. Nothing was telling her anything. After some time, she found one that seemed off. She pointed her finger and attempted to poke him in the stomach. Unfortunately, it disappeared into a cloud of smoke, signaling her failure.

"Close, but no close enough." From over to her right, the real Naruto flicked her in the forehead and ended his jutsu.

"Ow. How is that possible?" A Sharingan should have the ability to see through that jutsu."

"Yes, it should, but because yours isn't that matured, I can trick it into thinking one's the real one even though it's not. Also, I've spent my whole life perfecting this jutsu. It takes a strong visual ninja to figure out which one is the real one just by looking."

"Wow, you're incredible, Naruto-sensei. Do you think you could teach me that jutsu?"

"Eh? Shadow cloning. It's one of the most basic techniques that the academy teaches you. Are you sure you want to learn more about it."

"I do. I read about it and I found that all of the clones are connected. Whatever one experiences, regardless of it being real of fake, the user gains that experience and can use it to their advantage. I just thought that this could help me with my Sharingan."

"Hm, interesting. You're definitely a lot smarter than me when I was your age."

Sarada suddenly blushed at Naruto's compliment.

"Since we're on the topic of your Sharingan, how strong is your Genjutsu?" Naruto gave her that look from before and Sarada gave him that same response from before. "So does that mean…"

"It's not very good."

"It's fine. There are some Sharingan users that didn't need to rely on Genjutsu. Some of the greatest ones were Uchiha Obito and Hatake Kakashi. However, there's been only one person I've met to have incredible Genjutsu prowess and that's your uncle Itachi. He was one of the most inspiring ninjas I've ever met."

"Uncle Itachi? How did you know him? Was he strong like you?"

"We met on many occasions and yes, he was a lot stronger than me. The things he did for Konoha could never be forgotten. He's definitely a figure that anyone should look up to. You know, Sarada, your family is full of strong people. Don't ever forget that."

"I won't."

"Alright, let's end it with one more thing. I want to see how strong your jutsu is. Hit me with everything you've got."

"Huh? I can't attack you."

"Of course you can. I know how defend against most things. Just hit me with your strongest jutsu."

Sarada was so confused. She couldn't believe that he wanted her to attack him. However, she couldn't disobey his orders so she weaved her hands and unleashed her biggest and strongest jutsu."

"Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu!" In that instance, a huge fireball came flaming towards Naruto. However, he quickly jumped out of the way before he was completely singed by fire. "How was that?"

"Good. Very good. The size and intensity of your fire is really good. What I would say is simply work on the speed of your weaving? I think you're paying too much attention to the precision of the signs when you already have them down. This jutsu is really effective for initial encounters and if you get it out quickly, you'll get your enemy off guard."

"Okay. If you don't mind me asking, could you show me one of your strongest jutsus? A lot of people have said that it's a spectacle whenever you're in a fight. Can I just see one awesome move? I think it would really motivate me to do better."

"Alright. If you think it'll help then sure." Naruto suddenly stuck out his hand and started to create his Rasengan. However, that wasn't it. Once the ball was formed, large spinning blades of wind formed around the ball. That's when a whirring sound started to fill the air.

"Whoa, what's that?"

"This jutsu is called the Rasenshuriken. Believe it or not, I created this myself. It's my fastest, most efficient jutsu. Now, I would suggest backing up a tad." He made sure Sarada was in a safe position before showing her what it could do. Once she was clear, he chucked it towards the rock column area where the real show began.

The jutsu cut through the rock as if it was made of paper. Before too long, the jutsu stopped in place and expanded, shredding everything else that stood it its path. Meanwhile, Naruto wasn't even looking at the jutsu. He was looking at Sarada's reaction. Her mouth was wide open and her eyes were glued to the sight of his jutsu. She couldn't believe that there was such a kind of jutsu like the one she was watching.

"Wow… You created that yourself?"

"Well, it did take a very long time. In the beginning, it took a lot of chakra so it was kind of useless, but once I got stronger, it's super effective."

"Naruto-sensei, you are so cool!" At that moment, she jumped at him and wrapped her arms around his waist. I'm so glad to be learning from you. I don't care what anyone says. You are the coolest, strongest ninja in the world.

"Thank you, Sarada. I'm just glad that you're soaking up everything I'm showing you."

"How could I not? Your life itself is so inspiring."

"I guess. It's just… You do know that not everything went my way."

"What are you talking about?"

End of Chapter 4


	5. Chapter 5

The Next Generation

Chapter 5

Opened Eyes

"What are you talking about?"

"You know that I'm the Nine-Tails Jinchuuriki, right?"

"Yeah. I don't really know the details, but…"

"Well, in the past, Jinchuurikis were seen as monsters and were pretty much removed from society. I was a little younger than you when I realized what I was to everyone around me. I didn't know why, but it was hard. People never wanted to affiliate with me and they kept saying that I didn't belong in the village and that I should leave. There was nowhere else I could go so I was forced to face reality and tell myself that being the Hokage would be the only thing that could change things."

"And you were right."

"Eh, only partly. My first friend was Iruka-sensei. He saw me for me and that really changed my life. He helped me to become a ninja. After that, it was Jiraiya-sensei. He believed in me and helped me become the ninja I am today… I guess what I'm trying to say is that it took time for me to find the path I needed to take. The good thing about you is that you already know where you want to go without having to deal with all of those problems.

"I guess."

"Alright. I think we can call it a day." Naruto weaved the signs and returned to the Hidden Leaf. He thanked Gamakichi for his help and had him return to Mt. Myouboku. "Well, it's been an eventful experience, don't you think?"

"Very eventful. Thank you so much, Naruto-sensei. When will we meet again?"

"Um, I'm not too sure about that since I've been kind of slacking on my own work. I'll be sure to let you know when we can meet again."

"Okay. Thank you again. I'm so happy to be learning under you." She waved goodbye to him and left his office.

At the same time, Shikamaru came in with a whole bunch of paperwork and that's when Naruto knew what he had to do. The boring part about being Hokage was finally upon him once again. He took a deep breath and prepared himself for a long day of tedious work.

…

When Sarada got home, she saw both of her parents sitting in the living room. For her, this was kind of a surprise since her dad wasn't usually home for this long of a timespan. She had a smile on her face, but couldn't really take in the full extent of the picture that she was looking at.

"Hey dad, can we spar for a bit?"

"Huh? You wanna spar with me?" Sasuke was about to ask whether she's been with Naruto yet, but decided not to.

"Yeah, I want to see how much I've improved."

"Alright. Since it's been a while since I've seen your skills, I'll agree to it. Let's go."

In the blink of an eye, the two of them left the house and headed into the forest where they used to train together. When they made it to their spot, they took their spots and got ready to fight. As Sasuke looked over at Sarada, he could see a different look on her face. She had a smile on her face. All of the other times they sparred, her face was completely serious. This obviously meant that there was something different about her.

"Alright. Shall we begin?"

"Let's do this." The two of them brought their hands up to the ready position and began their fight. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Sarada created a clone which threw Sasuke a little off guard. She never used this technique in the past so this was definitely something to pay attention to.

"Interesting."

Sarada then grabbed her clone's arm and tossed it towards Sasuke. She had a kunai in her hand and lunged at Sasuke. Unfortunately, her movements were too easy to read. Sasuke leaned over to the side and avoided her attack. Her clone ended up landing a few feet behind Sasuke. At that moment, the two of them weaved their signs and unleashed another attack.

"Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu." Two fireballs came hurdling towards Sasuke. However, he was too quick. He jumped up before the two attacks could converge. "I'm not finished yet." As Sasuke was in the air, he saw two kunai flying right at him with the paper bomb symbol on it.

Boom! Sarada covered her eyes from the explosion, but when she unveiled them, she saw Sasuke standing in front of her without a scratch.

"How did…" She stopped herself as she got a good look at him. His Rinnegan was as scary as always, but that was the thing she remembered him telling her about. He could switch places with anything in his general vicinity. That's what he did to the kunai in order to escape. "Ugh! I hate that eye. I really do."

"Haha. Your enemies aren't always going to be compatible to your preferences." Sasuke pulled out a kunai and threw it at Sarada.

"That's not going to work on me either." She rolled out of the way and prepared for another attack. However, when she looked up, she saw the kunai that Sasuke threw at her was going in the other direction. When she looked to her side, Sasuke was standing next to her with a kunai at her back.

"It seems like you already forgot about that."

Poof! Sarada turned to smoke as she caused her Shadow Clone to disappear.

"Hm, not bad. Too bad I knew that that wasn't you. Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu!" He shot his fireball towards a nearby tree and waited for a body to fly out from behind it. To no surprise, Sarada jumped out from behind it to avoid getting it. When she looked up, she saw that Sasuke was walking towards her with the intent of ending the fight.

"What the heck? Why can't I get you?"

"I've told you this before, but you're persistent on not using it."

"Using what?"

"Your Sharingan. That will help you immensely in battle. You complain that its maturity is falling behind, but in reality, it's your fault for it falling behind. Simply using it improve your vision will cause it to mature a lot quicker than you may think."

At that moment, she remembered something else. Naruto told her about that when they were together as well. He asked her to use her Sharingan at all times. She didn't know why she forgot about that. The only thing she could think of was that she got caught up in fighting with her dad again that it distracted from why she was really doing it.

"I'm sorry." She dipped her head in sadness.

"Hey." Sasuke walked up to her and put his hand on her head. "I can tell that there's something different about you, and I mean that in the good sense. Keep working hard, okay?"

"Okay."

…

Once the day grew late, Naruto finally managed to leave the office and head home. Right as he got home, Himawari came running right at him with a huge smile on his face.

"Papa! Papa, guess what?"

"What," he asked as he picked her up in his arms.

"Mama taught me some of her taijutsu."

"Whoa really?"

"Uh huh."

"Did you know your mother has one of the strongest taijutsus I've ever met? You better be careful with all of that strength."

"Can I show you?"

"Sure." He knelt down and had her stand right in front of him. "Hit me with your best shot."

"Okay." Himawari's face suddenly changed from happy to serious. She took a deep breath and got into the same stance as the one Hinata uses. "Haa!" She used her palm and struck Naruto's stomach as hard as she could. "Huu!" She struck him again with her other hand and then looked up for a reaction of some kind.

"Ugh, you got me. I'm dying." Naruto grabbed his stomach with one hand and used his other one to reach out for help. "You're too strong for me." His face started to look constipated as he collapsed to the ground.

"Papa. Papa! I'm sorry. Mama…"

"Haha, got you!" Naruto suddenly grabbed her by the waist and hoisted her into the air. He tickled her until he threw her onto his shoulders.

"Haha, how was that papa?"

"Very good. You'll defeat me in no time."

"Yay!" The two of them walked into the living room where Hinata was making dinner. They greeted each other with a kiss on the cheek and asked how their days were. After a few seconds, the front door slammed closed which meant that Boruto was home. He peeked into the living room and saw Himawari atop Naruto's shoulders.

"Wow, you're home again, and not even caring about me. Great."

"Boruto."

Naruto stuck out his hand and stopped Hinata from saying anymore.

"Don't worry. I'll talk to him. Himawari, why don't you help mama with the food?"

"Okay." He set her down and then made his way upstairs to Boruto's room.

Once he made it to his room, he knocked on the door and waited for allowance into his room. When he stepped inside, Boruto was sitting on his bed with his back against the wall and his arms crossed.

"What do you want?"

"I just wanted to talk to you. Why have you been acting like this? Did I do something to make you hate me? If I did, please let me know."

"It's you. That's the problem. You being Hokage is the problem. You never have any time for us. And when you are here, it's almost as if I don't exist to you."

"Boruto, I know you've been hurting and I've been trying my hardest to make things work. Things aren't always as easy as you may think."

"Well, the least you could do is think about me being a ninja.

"What are you talking about? I think about that all of the time."

"Then why haven't you trained with me again?"

"Because you haven't asked me. You've been too stubborn and too stuck on the idea that I would say no because I'm too busy being the Hokage."

"Well, that's true, but still…"

At that moment, Naruto put his hand on Boruto's shoulder and teleported the both of them to the top of the Hokage building.

"I'm free right now. How about we do some training?"

At first, Boruto was still a little stubborn. His arms were still crossed and his face was saying that he didn't want to do this.

"Or… I can take you back home and you can mope around some more."

"Ugh, alright fine. Let's do this."

End of Chapter 5


	6. Chapter 6

The Next Generation

Chapter 6

Naruto and Boruto

"Alright, let's start." Naruto pulled out four of his kunai and threw into each cardinal direction. The two of them stood in the middle of the roof and waited for one of them to make a move.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Boruto was the first to make a move as he created three clones next to him. At the same time, Naruto decided to match his numbers. They clashed towards each other with fists hot for some face.

Right from the start, Boruto was on the offensive. He tried everything he could to land one punch to Naruto, but nothing seemed to work. Naruto's defense was too good for Boruto. He mixed in taijutsu as well as kunai attacks, but nothing worked.

"Come on, you're going to use Shadow Clones too? I thought you were strong."

"You don't want me to use them? Fine, I'll get serious starting now then."

Naruto took a small step back and lowered his body. Boruto had no idea what he was planning so he decided to test him. He charged at Naruto with his kunai aimed right for him. Before he could get to him, Naruto tossed his kunai towards the center of the roof and vanished within the blink of an eye. Boruto was completely shocked. He had no idea what was going on until he quickly behind him. Naruto was there with a serious face.

"That's one knockout." Naruto gently tapped Boruto's back. However, Boruto wasn't going to give up. As he continued to zoom towards where Naruto was beforehand, he wove signs for another attack.

"Suiton: Mizurappa!" Water shot out of Boruto's mouth, but it completely missed as Naruto vanished once again. "God, come on!" His feet finally touched the ground once again.

"That's another knockout." Naruto was behind him again and tapped him on the back.

"Oh yeah? Raiton: Raiga." Boruto switched to the lightning style since it was a lot quicker, but Naruto disappeared yet again. "You're such a coward. Running away like that. Face me like the Hokage you're supposed to be." When Boruto turned around, he saw Naruto bending down to pick up the kunai he threw in to the middle of all of the other kunai.

"Hm, you want me to come at you?"

"Yeah! How is this training if you don't try your hardest or teach me something?"

"I see. Well… I guess I'll try this time." Naruto bent over once again, indicating he was about to charge. "This level jutsu came from my dad. I hope you like it."

Naruto ran at Boruto and Boruto ran at Naruto. As they neared each other, Naruto threw the kunai at Boruto's face, but he was able to dodge it with the slight move of his neck. That's when Boruto pulled his kunai out and lunged towards Naruto.

"I got you this time!" As he lunged for the finishing move, he vanished once again. "What?"

"I'm right here." Naruto was suddenly right above Boruto's body, grabbing the kunai he threw out of the air.

Boom! Naruto grabbed Boruto's body and crashed him into the ground. He wrapped his arm around his back, deeming him immobile.

"How was that for coming at you?"

"Whatever."

Just right below him, he could see Boruto struggling to get out of his hold. As he watched him, something suddenly came to mind.

"Boruto, I need to talk to you."

"What do you have to say to me that I don't already know?"

"Can't you just calm down?"

"Alright, I will. Just let me go."

"Okay." Naruto let go of his arm and climbed off of his body. "I know you think that I don't care about you at all, but it's not like that. When I first tried training with you, I knew that you were something special. That's when I felt like I was not fit to be your teacher. When I stopped training with you, you didn't ask why. You just led yourself to the conclusion that I didn't want to anymore. In reality, it's the complete opposite. I want to train with you, but I'm afraid that I won't be able to teach you anything useful."

"Why would you think that? Of course there are things you can teach me. I'm only a genin after all."

"So what… You want me to train with you again?"

Right as Boruto was about to open his mouth and say yes, something in his head told him to hold up before saying anything.

"Yes and no."

"And what do you mean by that?"

"I mean… I guess we can try it again. It's just that right now is not a good time."

"I see. Well, I won't rush into this since I don't want to baby you."

"Okay."

"Alright." The two of them stood there awkwardly for a few seconds. All they could do was look at each other with awkward looks. "So should we head home?"

"Yeah, I think we should."

"Right." Naruto picked up the kunai off of the ground and the two of them returned home just in time to join Hinata and Himawari for the ending of dinner.

…

When the next day came, Boruto was quick on the draw. He headed out in search of Sasuke. Thankfully, that didn't take long as Sasuke was walking down the street. He managed to catch up with him and stop him in his tracks.

"Sasuke-sensei."

"Boruto, what are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you."

"Uh huh, and what did you want to talk to me about?"

"It's about you being my teacher. I know I asked you to teach me stuff, but I decided that it wouldn't be a good idea. I'm sorry."

"Well, I'm not going to stop you from making this decision. I'm just sorry that I couldn't give you what you wanted."

"No, it's my fault that I wasn't a good enough student for you. Thank you though. You're still one of the coolest guys in the village.

"Hehe, alright. Enough of the girly stuff, go do whatever you kids do during the day."

"Alright, bye." Boruto waved to him as he headed off in some random direction.

…

"Wait, you're leaving already?"

"Yeah, I've received information that something is going down in the Land of Iron. Most of the time, they stayed isolated, but because of our efforts during the Shinobi War, they asked for some assistant. Also, I don't know why you're acting surprised. I said from the start of all of this that I would be working behind-the-scenes."

"I know, but you said that this would be a longer stay the normal."

"This was a long stay. I was just surprised that I stayed for as long as I did."

"Well, it was nice seeing you. I wish you good luck and a speedy return."

"Later."

At that moment, Sasuke vanished. At the same time, Boruto and Sarada entered the Hokage's office. When he saw them walk in together, he knew that something was up, but decided to wait and hear what they had to say just in case he was completely wrong about the whole thing.

"Hello you two, what brings you here? Don't you guys have a mission planned today?"

"Well, us meeting here was kind of a coincidence, but when we talked about it, it wasn't a coincidence at all."

"What we were going to ask you is…"

"Please accept us as sibling apprentices."

All Naruto could do now was smile. He had a feeling they were going to ask him that. He just wanted to hear it himself. Now, although it was good news, this only made his stance a lot more challenging. He already had to pull strings to meet with Sarada their first time and now, he has to make time for two students. That's when he took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair.

"So… What do you think?"

"Hm?" Naruto could see the look on their faces and knew that he couldn't say no to them, especially Boruto since he's been so standoffish towards his very own son. "Alright, I'll do it, but the two of you are going to have to be patient with me. As much as I would love to work with you, Hokage work does come first. But I promise to get through it as quick as possible. Does that sound like a plan?"

The two of them looked at each other, smiled, and nodded.

"Yes, it does."

End of Chapter 6


	7. Chapter 7

The Next Generation

Chapter 7

The Sibling Apprentices

For the next couple of days, Naruto experienced a large flux of work. It seemed as if he was in his office from sunrise to sunset with no break in sight. However, he had to keep on going. He made a promise and that was to get through all of his work as quickly as he could. Unfortunately, people could only work so fast. Even for Naruto, he was having a hard time. He even called upon the help of his Shadow Clones to help lighten the load, but there was still so much to be done.

One of the biggest roadblocks was the upcoming Chunin exams. Since all Five Nations would be participating as one, the Kage were busy making sure everything was where it should be. After all, this would be the first united Chunin exam in history.

Meanwhile, Boruto and Sarada were keeping themselves busy.

Boruto found one of Naruto's kunai laying around at home and decided to test it out. He brought it with him to his normal training spot just outside the village. When he was fighting with Naruto, he realized that he was using a teleportation jutsu and wanted to see if he could do it too. He through the kunai and tried following it, but the results were absolutely horrible. Once he realized that he couldn't do it, he moved on to using it as an actual weapon. Surprisingly, he handled very well. Its unique shape allowed to up its offense and defense when compared to normal kunai.

Sarada finally utilized the words that Naruto's spoke to her. She was using her Sharingan as often as possible as well as using a Shadow Clone too. For her, she had a lot on her plate, but she knew that she had to up her game so that she could show Naruto that she's been improving. The use of her Sharingan only last about 5 minutes, but her Shadow Clone was getting a lot better. It was becoming more independent which is the most important thing for that jutsu.

One night, Naruto managed to come home, but he was completely exhausted. He walked into the house and collapsed onto the couch. Himawari ran in to him a welcome back kiss and tried to play with him, but he told her that it just wasn't possible for him. This saddened her enough to leave her room and head up to her room. That's when Boruto ran into the living room.

"Dad, let's go train. I'm sure Sarada's ready to go."

"I'm sorry, but I can't tonight. I'm so beat right now."

"But it's nearly been a week and we haven't done anything whatsoever."

"I'm sorry. But I promise that I'll get around to it."

"Ugh, you say that about everything." Boruto suddenly turned around and headed up to his room and frustration. Naruto wanted to try and talk to him, but his body was telling him to rest. Finally, the only person who was left in the house was Hinata. She walked in and sat down on the couch, placing his head on her lap.

"Are you okay?"

"I don't know. I know I said I wanted to be Hokage, but all of this work makes me question my decision. I wanted to do all of this fighting and protecting."

"Well, Kage don't do that anymore after what you did for this world."

"I know. It just sucks that I don't do any serious fighting anymore."

"It's not like you can't completely."

"What do you mean?"

"You have two budding students that anxiously waiting to work with you."

"I know. I just don't want them to think that I'm ignoring them if I try and use Shadow Clones."

"No one said that you had to do that. Just use them as a reason to get through all of your work. I'm sure you'll be able to do it. You're Naruto, after all. Nothing can ever stop you," she said with a smile. He smiled back at her as the two of them stayed like that for the rest of the night.

…

When the next day came around, Naruto was back at it while Boruto and Sarada were eagerly waiting their master's arrival. Unfortunately, they heard rumors that the Chunin was causing some difficulties for the Hokage that no one would be seeing him anytime soon. When they heard that, they just decided to head to the café to hang out with some of their friends. There, Mitsuki, Shikadai, and Inojin were hanging out as they usually do in the beginning of the day.

"So, are you guys participating in the Chunin exams?"

"It's such a drag, but I think our team is probably going to do it. What about you guys?"

"Of course we are. We're going to show Lord Seventh that we are the strongest ninjas out there."

"Haha, that's being quite optimistic. Me, on the other, I don't really care. If I beat everyone, great… If I don't, eh."

"Shikadai, why are you so bland?"

"I'm not bland. This is just how I am."

Sarada turned her head to see Boruto looking out the window. His eyes were on the Hokage building. He was staring so intensively that she had to intervene.

"Hey Boruto, you okay?"

"Huh? Yeah, I'm good. It's just… Why hasn't my dad started training with us yet?"

"Well, what do you expect? He's the Hokage. He can't always be doing things that he wants to do."

"I know, but still…"

"Wait a second… You guys are training with Lord Seventh."

"Yes they are." At that moment, his voice caused them all to turn their heads to see him standing behind them. "And we are heading out now." He put his hands on their shoulder and took them to a training spot just outside of the village. When they arrived, the two of them were excited and confused at the same time.

"Wait, are we actually training now?"

"Of course we are. Why else would I be here?"

"But we heard that you had business with the whole Chunin exam thing."

"I managed to finish earlier than expected. Now, are you going to question me or are we going to prepare for the Chunin exams?"

"Prepare." Sarada stood up straight and made herself ready for any order that came out of Naruto's mouth. On the other hand, Boruto was still a little dumbfounded. He didn't actually believe that his dad would train with him, but that he was here, there was no denying. The two of them were going to train.

"Yeah, let's get ready for the Chunin exams."

For the start of the training session, Naruto had them start off with taijutsu and shuriken training. The two of them did a good job with those things so Naruto quickly moved them to Ninjutsu training. This where their paths started to divulge a bit.

"So what would you guys like to work on?"

"My very own Rasengan!"

"I think I'm ready to start on my Chidori."

"Alright, let's get right to it." Naruto pulled out a water balloon and handed it to Boruto.

"And what am I supposed to use this for you?"

"You're supposed to pop it."

"Okay." Boruto was about to throw it to the ground when Naruto's voice broke out and stopped his progress.

"You're supposed to pop it using the air inside of it."

"That's it?"

"Go ahead and try it and tell me how easy it is."

"Fine." Boruto took a deep breath and concentrated on the water balloon. He gripped it as tight as he could without popping it, but nothing happened. This caused him to immediately protest in frustration, but Naruto was already working with Sarada.

"I can't perform Chidori, but I can help you out with the necessities for creating it Chidori is a highly concentrated chakra move. You weave the signs and focus your chakra on one point in your body which is your hand. The slightest slip of your mind will cause it to fail. Be sure to have your Sharingan activated."

Sarada completely forgot to activate it. She couldn't help but feel a little ashamed of herself but Naruto didn't make a big deal about it so that helped her get over it. She activated her Sharingan and did her best to create her Chidori. Unfortunately, it wasn't anything special. She was only able to create a small spark before her chakra supply gave out.

Now, Naruto was starting to see the true nature of his students. They both showed much promise, but they were still far from anything special. However, he didn't let this affect. He was determined to make them grow. After all, these two were probably the brightest shinobis of their generation.

Their training session lasted until the sun reached the horizon. The two of them weren't able to make much progress with the jutsu that they were working on, but it was obviously that they were improving. Eventually, Naruto had to call it for the day. Boruto and Sarada asked to continue, but Naruto said that he was done for the day. That's when he saw more of them as students. Even though he said that he was done for the day, they continued to work on what they needed to work on. He gave them advice all throughout the day so his words should be able to get them through the rest of their own training session.

Sarada's Chidori started out as just a small spark, but she eventually got it to last a few seconds before she exhausted her herself. At the same time, Boruto's Rasengan managed to cause a tear in the water balloon. Naruto provided him with a few extras just in case if something happened and they were definitely needed now. Just one day of working with Naruto and the two of them were already making leaps and bounds in their training.

End of Chapter 7


	8. Chapter 8

The Next Generation

Chapter 8

Team 7

 **Note:** I'm sorry for not updating this story, but Microsoft apparently had their annual update that gave my computer a stroke, making it unavailable to use. However, I'm back now so there will be no more problems. Aside from the stupid stuff, I hope you enjoy the update and I hope you're all doing awesome.

When the day came around, they were all ready for their first mission. Unfortunately, they didn't know what that entitled. All they were told was to meet Konohamaru in the forest just outside of the village. However, this only made them more anxious to find out what they would be doing for the day. They all converged on Konohamaru's location and awaited his instruction.

"Alright. I think it's best that we get an early start on things since today will be your first true test."

"Konohamaru-sensei, what's the mission? Is it something dangerous? Is something only we can do? What is it?"

"Today…" He suddenly put his fisted hand in front of them. "You will be trying to steal these from me." He opened his hand and revealed three bells.

"Eh?!" All three of them couldn't believe what he was saying.

"Are you serious? How is this a mission?"

"It's definitely a mission. You would not believe how many times are unable to successfully complete this mission."

"Konohamaru-sensei, were you or any of your team able to do it?"

"As much as I would like to be a role model teacher, I and my team were unable to do it. Hopefully, you guys can change that. I will give you till midday to take these from me. You may use any strategy you may see fit. Consider this a test to see who's truly ready for the Chunin Exams. Are you ready?"

At that moment, the three of them lowered themselves to the ground and prepared to fight. Konohamaru scanned each one of them to see who would attack first, but in reality, they all retreated to different areas of the forest to try and surprise him.

In the beginning, they simply used desperate attempts to get at the bells that were tied to his waist, but none of their methods worked. They then tried to use pairs and team combos, but those didn't quite work either. They were still in the early stages of being a team so their communication skills weren't the best.

For the three of them, Boruto was the one who attacked the most. He tried to use everything he could at once, but Konohamaru knew this about him and used it to his advantage. He advertised everything he was about to do so it made Konohamaru's job a lot easier. He quickly disarmed and immobilized Boruto just to give him another shot a few minutes later. Sarada and Mitsuki were a little more strategic. Most of the time, they tried to attack immediately Boruto's encounters to try and throw him off guard. However, their personal armory wasn't that threatening so Konohamaru was able to dispose of them pretty quickly as well.

Hours went by and the three of them were starting to run out of time. Konohamaru constantly gave them time checks to let them know as well as piss them off a bit. Every time they tried to steal the bells, it was never successful… It wasn't even that close. Now, they were finally starting to realize that they had to come up with one last attack that could throw him off.

Boruto was first. He was right behind a tree with Konohamaru right in sight. He put his hand out in front of him and tried summoning a Rasengan for the first time. Unfortunately, it didn't go very well. He was groaning out loud which let Konohamaru know where he was. When he looked up, he was already above ready to knock him out for the final time.

Mitsuki had a different approach. He kept his distance from Konohamaru while trying to lure him closer with his limb extension jutsu. This got him to go deeper into the forest, but when the time came to strike, Mitsuki ended up attacking his Shadow Clone. Konohamaru then appeared behind him and took him down for the final time.

Time was short and Konohamaru only one had person left. This time, he decided to hunt her down instead of being the hunted. Sarada kept her distance because she was busy coming up with a plan that could help her. As she stayed in the shadows, she tried to remember all of the things that Naruto had told her while training with her. Most of the things she thought of couldn't be done yet since she hadn't trained on them enough. However, there was one thing that she had to bet on. This was the only thing that could work. It was bold and something that Konohamaru wouldn't be expecting.

When Konohamaru appeared in an opening of the forest, that's when Sarada made her move. She jumped out of the trees and threw her paper bomb at him. However, this was too obvious. He dodged out of the way while the bomb exploding sending dust into the air. From where Konohamaru was, it was a bit difficult to see where she was, but when a strange light appeared, he knew that that had to Sarada.

Her body burst through the dust while possessing Chidori in her hand. That's when Konohamaru started to panic. He had no idea that she could do this yet. Afraid of what was going to happen, he molded his Rasengan and rivaled Sarada's attack. However, right as their attack collided, it almost looked as though Sarada glitched like some kind of old movie.

"Crap! Is this a Genjutsu?" When he landed on the ground, he frantically looked around until things started to focus out. Just right behind him, he saw Sarada standing with her back facing him. Her head was down and it looked as though she was whimpering. "Sarada, are you okay," he asked with hesitation.

She suddenly turned around with wide eyes as a single bell was in her hand.

"Did I do it?"

He had to make sure, but when he really got a look at it, it was obvious that she was holding one of his bells. He reached down and could feel that only two of them were remaining.

"Very good strategy… Using Genjutsu on me. I had no idea you could do that."

"Me neither."

"Well, that concludes today's lesson. Aside from the two failures, I believe our team will do just fine in the Chunin Exams. You are dismissed."

At that moment, Sarada ran off without even caring about Boruto or Mitsuki with a smile. She had no idea that it was going to work, but apparently it worked. She also remembered that her Sharingan could be called upon in times of danger, and she definitely used it effectively. The only bad thing was that she didn't have it activated for any of the fight. That's when she had the horrible thought that Naruto would be really mad at her.

Meanwhile, Boruto stormed home and when he go there, he immediately trudged up to his room without acknowledging Hinata or his little sister. Of course, they couldn't let this go so the two of them went up to his room to see if he was okay. They poked their heads in through the door to see Boruto throwing a child's temper tantrum. He was slamming his legs and arms on the bed as he was screaming like some child who didn't get what they wanted. That's when Hinata knew that it was best to leave him alone.

…

"Naruto, I think you need to see this."

"What is it?" Naruto grabbed the paper out of Shikamaru's hand and looked it over. It was a message from the Sasuke. It was telling him that there was some difficulties on his part and that he should prepare himself just in case if something comes for the village. That was all it said so this obviously made Naruto a little on-edge. "What is this supposed to mean?"

"I don't know. We just received this now and because it's Sasuke, we never know what it means. We were hoping that you'd be able to tell us."

"Hm?" He spun his chair around to face the window. "Shikamaru, how far away are the Chunin Exams?"

"Just about a month away."

"Alright. Contact the other Kage and see if they are up for a meeting."

"Alright. Where should I request them to meet?"

"Preferably at the Hidden Sand since the first part will be held there."

"I'll get right on it." Shikamaru exited his office and right as the door closed, Naruto teleported back to his house.

End of Chapter 8


	9. Chapter 9

The Next Generation

Chapter 9

An Interesting Revelation

The next day was the day of Team 7's first real mission. They made their way to the Hokage building where they would receive their instructions. Once they were, it was explained to them that they would be escorting a group of goldminer's through the nations. Normally, this wouldn't even be a thing, but lately, there have been reports of gold bandits looking for a score so shinobi were necessary. The briefing was short and simple so they headed out immediately. However, Naruto asked Boruto and Sarada to stay behind for just a second.

"What is it, Naruto-sensei?"

"Before you guys leave, I have something I need to give to you. I'm leaving for an important meeting with the other Kage so I will be away. However, if I give these to you, I'll feel better about the whole thing."

"Okay, what are you giving us?"

Naruto looked at Boruto for just a second before asking them to stick out their bare arms. At that moment, he touched their arms with his hands and left behind a unique writing that they couldn't read.

"What is this?"

"That is the Flying Raijin mark. From now on, I'll be able to teleport to you guys if anything should go wrong."

"Naruto-sensei, do you not trust our own team leader?"

"Of course I trust him. It's just that Konohamaru could be a little absentminded sometimes. As shinobi, you must remain vigilant at all times, even if the mission seems easy to you. You guys understand?"

They nodded their heads. After that, he escorted them out and wished them luck. The next team entered the room and he went over the plans of all of the teams until there were none left. After that, he went up to his office and prepared for the trip. His Hokage cloak was on his chair and his hat was right in the middle of his desk.

"Naruto, I received word that all of the Kage are willing to meet."

"Alright. Then if you don't mind, I'll be heading out now." Naruto suddenly threw his cloak over his body and donned the hat.

"Wait, you don't want me to come with you?"

"It's alright. This is an informal meeting. Besides, I need someone to look after the village. You can do that for me, right?"

"That I can do. Good luck on your trip."

At that moment, Naruto disappeared. However, he had one last place to visit before leaving the village. He returned home to make sure that Hinata and Himawari were alright. He explained to them that he was leaving the village for an extended amount of time. Hinata knew that there was a reason behind this so she simply gave him a kiss and good luck hug. Himawari was waiting in line for her turn and Naruto was able to spare time for her as well. Once everything was all set, he left. He walked through the streets of the village until he made it to the entrance gate. He looked back once more and smiled.

"I'm counting on you, Shikamaru."

…

Team 7 was sent about a mile outside of the village to meet with the goldminers. Once everything was set, they headed out for their destination which was the Hidden Mist. During their trip, Konohamaru was busy occupying the goldminers so the three others were free to do whatever they wanted.

"So why do you think your dad has to meet with the other Kage?"

"I don't know. I don't care about Hokage business. It's so stupid."

"Don't say things like that. The things that the Hokage does are things only special people can do. Your dad is one of those special people. I plan on being one of them too."

"Haha, good luck. Someone like you could never be Hokage. I mean, you're a girl to begin with."

"Boruto, that was quite rude, don't you think?" Mitsuki knew to stay out of their conversations since it could easily get heated and this one was no exception. However, he knew he had to say something since Boruto's views and Sarada's views were very different from each other.

"What? You're saying that because I'm girl, I can't become Hokage."

"I mean, kind of."

"I'll have you know that Lord Fifth was a girl and she was one of the strongest Hokage in existence."

"Who cares about that?"

"Ugh! Whatever." Boruto turned his head and focused on the road ahead of him.

On the other hand, Sarada continued to look right at him. Only this time, she had her Sharingan activated. She was finally remembering what Naruto told her. And plus, the Sharingan is known for activating under conditions of anger and desperation.

Because the trip to the Hidden Mist was a long one, Konohamaru planned out several stops that would ease their travels a bit. They travelled all day until they reached their first pit stop. It was a small town split by the trail so they took shelter at an inn and laid low for the night. Unfortunately, Boruto and Sarada were still at each other's necks so they weren't anywhere near each other. Konohamaru decided to take watch which meant the other three were free to rest. Boruto and Mitsuki decided to turn in for the night, but decided to stay up.

She escaped from sight and did some training on her own. She activated her Sharingan and created as many clones as she could. However, her limit was two clones. Once they were ready to go, she maneuvered around the village to serve as a secondary lookout. This only lasted a few minutes though. With her clones doing all of the work, she left that post and decided to work on her Ninjutsu.

…

Right as the sun rose on another day, Naruto made it to the Hidden Sand. Gaara was waiting for him at the entrance of the village. When they reunited, they shook each other's hands and gave a friendly hug. After that, Gaara guided him to the council room where the other Kage were already waiting for him. They immediately got down to business with the arrival of the man who called this meeting.

"So what's going on, Naruto? You called this meeting pretty abruptly."

"Yeah. You're definitely not the kind of person to do something like this. It must be something important."

"It is. First off, I want to thank you Kage for accepting this request. Now, the reason why I called this meeting is because I've been uncertain about something."

"And that would be?"

"I received a message from Sasuke who is dealing with something in the Land of Iron. He tells me that there are things going on there that are strange. Normally, I wouldn't worry about things like this, but because it's Sasuke and because he never fins anything strange, I can't help but be a little on-edge about this. Have any of you received any information of this sorts?" He looked around and saw them thinking. The only bad thing was that they were kind of hinting that they didn't have anything to say.

"Well, I don't know if this'll help. I have been ANBU from the Mist scout other places just to predict whether a threat is on the rise. I know I don't have as much concrete information as you, but I think I've heard about this from one of my agents."

"Alright. That's a start. Do you remember how long ago this was?"

"Hm, I would say about a couple of weeks ago."

"That's about the time I received word from Sasuke."

"So it looks as though we do have something going? What should we do?"

"I want this to be discreet, but I also want all of us involved in finding out what is going on. Let's try to organize a small team with members from each village and see what they can dig up."

"But what about Sasuke? Isn't he your right hand man?"

"He is, but there's always things that he needs to do. Even though he informed me about this, I doubt he's still looking into it. That's why I called us to meet. Sasuke deals with some pretty crappy stuff, but for some reason, I don't think I should involve him in this."

"Fair enough. That guy has done more than enough for the shinobi world."

"Yeah he has."

The meeting died down a little bit, but Gaara came back with better things to talk about.

"Since we're all here, why don't we talk about the Chunin Exams?"

"Great idea. This makes our jobs a lot easier by having this conversation now. The Hidden Rock will sending 3 teams."

"The Hidden Mist will be sending 2 teams."

"The Hidden Cloud will send 5 teams."

"The Hidden Sand will have 3 teams."

"The Hidden Leaf will be sending 5 teams as well."

"Hm, interesting turnout. For some reason, I thought there would be more teams from all of our villages."

"Well, what do you expect? We're doing stuff differently this year. Normally, the Chunin Exams wouldn't this early. We just really wanted to showcase the fact the Great Nations are finally united."

"And we thank our lovely Naruto-san for that."

"There's no need to thank me, Kurotsuchi. We've all done our parts to make this world out to the way it should be. No one person should be taking the credit."

"Ah see… There he goes again with the modesty. Face it, Naruto… We all know that you're the most important person in the world right now. You're like the revival of the Sage of Six Paths himself."

There was no response on Naruto's part. They couldn't tell, but he was thinking very intensively about something. He knew there were others things going on around him that he just couldn't piece together.

…

"Boruto. Sarada. You two stay with the group. Mitsuki and I are going to scout ahead to make sure that we don't experience any troubles. There's a bridge coming up so we don't want to be trapped at any time."

"Aye."

At that moment, Konohamaru and Mitsuki went ahead in a hurry. Unfortunately, that bad air from the other day was still circling them so they didn't want anything to do with each other. All they could do was walk straight and keep their eyes firmly on the road ahead of them. A few minutes went by when the both of them started to hear rustling coming from the trees. They stopped dead in their tracks and told the group of miners to wait as well. They silently looked around, but couldn't find anything out of the ordinary.

"Look out!" Boruto pushed Sarada out of the way as a spear was thrown at the two of them. Luckily, he was fast enough to avoid getting hit as well. When they looked up, they saw a group of ninjas standing right in front of them. Their weapons were out, giving off the impression that they were here to fight. "Who are you?!"

"You don't need to worry about us. It seems like… Your teacher isn't with you right now. What a shame?"

"Haha." They started to laugh as they took another step towards them.

"Sarada, we can do this."

"Aye."

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Boruto weaved the signs, but nothing happened. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" He tried again, but the same result happened. "What is going on?!"

"Stupid kids. We nullified this area with a sealing Ninjutsu. Only the users who cast the jutsu can use Ninjutsu. Looks like you're out of luck."

At that moment, the two of them widened their eyes as they were quickly being trapped into a corner. They didn't know what to do and time was already running out as the group of ninja charged right for them.

"Leave no traces of them, boys!"

End of Chapter 9


	10. Chapter 10

The Next Generation

Chapter 10

The Seventh Hokage

 **Note:** Hey everyone. I just wanted to let you know ahead of time that school is ending soon for me which means summer vacation. During this time, I grow a little lazy with my uploads, but I will stay continue to write. However, I wanted to let you know that I'll be gaming on the Xbox One. Please don't think of this as being weird because I would love to play with some of you guys. I'll give you more information as the weeks count down, but I would love to know anyone who's interesting in hanging out this summer on Xbox Live.

The group of bandits charged Boruto and Sarada from all sides. Boruto was forced to take on two of them while Sarada took on the other two. All he had was his kunai so things were already bad for him. His kunai skills weren't all that great, but he was able to get by. They swung at his body from all sides just the shape of his body allowed him to avoid their attacks pretty easily. When he had the opportunity, he attacked them and managed to cut them up a bit.

"Haha! You guys aren't that threatening."

"Oh, getting bigheaded, huh?" He suddenly weaved signs meaning that Boruto had to be careful. "Doton: Ganseki Kuzushi!"

At that moment, the ground underneath Boruto's feet started to crumble. Luckily, he was quick on his feet. He jumped into the air to avoid being swallowed into the ground. Unfortunately, that wasn't the only stage of the attack.

"Doton: Tobi Tsubute!"

The ground that was crumbling underneath him suddenly shot right back at him. With Boruto in midair, that wasn't much that he could do. He was able to cut down the smaller rocks, but when the bigger rocks entered the fray, his body was forced to take the full force of that attack.

"Ah!"

"Haha! Not so tough now you little prick."

Boruto's body crashed into the ground, but immediately looked up at his pursuers. Just right behind them, Sarada was fending off her enemies. She wasn't looking to good either with several cuts on her arms. When he looked back at his enemies, he saw that they were walking towards the chest full of gold. He couldn't let them take it so he got off the ground and threw his only kunai at him. None of them were paying attention so the kunai managed to land right in the back of one of the guys' hand.

"Aarghh!" The bandit suddenly looked at Boruto in anger. "You're still trying to mess with me."

Boruto didn't listen. He just charged with his fists.

"Stupid kid. I'll end you right here. Doton: Kengan no Jutsu." His arm suddenly turned into a huge rock fist as he ran at Boruto with the same amount of intensity. As they neared each other, Boruto questioned his own decision. He didn't have his weapon while his enemy could use Ninjutsu all they wanted. He was obviously the one with the disadvantage. "It's over!" Boruto brought his arms up to his face to block the incoming attack, but it never came.

When he opened his eyes, he saw that Naruto was holding him towards the ground while his fist was holding the enemy's attack. Immediately after that, his body was sent flying towards the other two guys who were attacking Sarada, his body rammed into theirs, stopping their attack. When Sarada looked back, she saw Naruto standing there.

"Sensei!"

"What the heck! Who's this guy?!"

"Dad, what are you doing here?"

"Don't worry about that. Stay behind me." Boruto was frozen in shock. This was obviously his dad, but there was something different about him. That's when Naruto stuck out his hand and attempted to create his Rasengan.

"It's no use. They threw down a jutsu that seals all Ninjutsu except for the casters."

"Hm, alright then. I'll guess I'll go with something else." Naruto closed his fist and clenched it tight.

"So you wanna stand in our way too?"

"I'll be willing to let you guys off with a warning if you cease this attack right now."

"Haha, you're just like this little prick, thinking he's so much better than us. Looks like I have to teach you a lesson. You two, get over here. We'll deal with the girl later." The four men started to surround Naruto and Boruto.

"Dad, we're outnumbered. Just let them go."

"Boruto, you still have a lot to learn."

"Get 'em!"

The four of them charged Naruto with their weapons pointing right at them. Naruto waited a few seconds before final engaging. He threw his fist at one guy, and without even touching him, his body was sent flying. He turned around and did the same thing to another one and the same thing happened. That's when the remaining two guys stopped dead in their tracks.

"What the hell?! We sealed all Ninjutsu!"

"This isn't Ninjutsu." Naruto suddenly punched the other guy and sent him flying in similar fashion to the previous three. "This is Sage Mode."

When Boruto looked up, she saw an orange color was on the outside of Naruto's eye. Also, his eyes were a totally different form. They didn't even look human. All he could think of was how strong his dad really was.

"I'll show you Ninjutsu now." Out of nowhere, the spear that was the source of the seal was broken by Naruto's frog-fu. Once it was gone, he opened his hand and created a Rasenshuriken. "Give up and things will go a lot smoother for you and your men."

He was trying to hold it in, but the bandit was shaking in fear. He was the only one that Naruto hadn't attacked yet and still, he was frightened beyond belief.

"W-Who are you?"

"Uzumaki Naruto."

At that moment, the bandit's eyes shot wide open as he fell on his knees.

"I concede."

"Good choice." Naruto suddenly vanished and reappeared to help Konohamaru deal with the other half of the group. That incursion didn't last very long. When it was done, everyone met back at where the chest full of gold was.

"Naruto-niichan, it's nice to see you again. Ow!"

"It's Hokage-sama to you," he said as he chopped the top of Konohamaru's head with his hand. "How did this happen?"

"Uh, well, you see, we were coming up on a bridge and I didn't want anything bad to happen while we crossed so I split up the group to scout ahead."

"I see."

"Naruto-sensei, what was that?"

He turned around and saw Boruto and Sarada looking right at him.

"What was what?"

"Your attack. You didn't even touch them and yet it looked as though they were hit by the biggest punch in history."

"Oh that. That's called Kawazu Kumite. One can only do that with Sage Mode."

"Sage Mode?" The two of them were so confused.

"Anyway, let's get these men to their destination without any more delay." At that moment, Naruto's Sage Mode disappeared and he returned to normal.

During their trip, Boruto and Sarada were completely silent. They didn't know what to say. Even though it wasn't much, they've never seen Naruto in action before and now that they have, they couldn't believe it. He did things so easily without even being touched. They wanted to talk about it with him, but they knew that it had to wait. They were on a mission right now being escorted by their Hokage so it wasn't appropriate to chat with him about pointless matters.

When they arrived at their destination, the gold miners thanked them for their help and paid them a handsome fee for their help. They all accepted their gifts except for Naruto. He didn't give them a lot of information except for the fact that he didn't need money. After all, the Hokage receives enough to get by and Naruto isn't big on money anyway. All he needs is enough to buy some Ichiraku Ramen.

A couple of days went by until they returned to the village. The followed Naruto up to his office. Once they were there, he removed his cloak and sat down in his chair.

"Now, after what happened today, I think it's best that this team refrain from any outside missions for a while."

"But dad, that's not fair. It's not like this will happen all of the time."

"I know. I just feel that this team is not ready for incursions like that when they arise."

"Naruto-sensei, please reconsider this. We were just all out of it at the time. I promise we'll have better results next…"

"My mind has been made. Konohamaru, be sure to work with them more."

"Of course"

"That will be all." The four of them exited his office in shame. Konohamaru went off on his own while the three of them hung out for a little while longer. Unfortunately, not a lot of words were spoken as they walked together. When they made it into the streets of the village, that's when they finally started to talk again.

"Your dad is really mad at us."

"Yeah, I don't think I've ever seen the Hokage look that mad before. It was really scary."

"Who cares?"

"Boruto, don't do this. We messed up and now your dad thinks we're not capable of holding our own. We can't let him think like that."

"Ugh, Sarada, why do you always have to be right about these kind of things?"

"I don't know. I'm just good when it comes to people."

"Well, Ms. People Person, how do suggest we get back on his good side?"

"We obviously need to train some more and I don't mean just wimpy training. We need to take everything he's told us and apply it at all times. That's the only way for the Lord Seventh to see us as worthy students."

"Fine. We can do that."

"Okay. Now head home. We've had along couple of days. A good night's rest is what all of us need."

…

Naruto remained in his office with his hands buried in his face. A few seconds passed until Shikamaru came into his office.

"Oh, you're back? How did it go?"

"The Kage meeting went exactly as I hoped. The thing that didn't go well was Boruto's mission."

"What happened?"

"They were attacked and I was forced to intervene."

"But isn't that good? Haven't you been raring for a fight?"

"Not when it has to do with situations like that. Boruto's team could have easily handled that situation and yet, they barely got out of it. His team has some of the most talented students in the village and yet, they're still just kids."

"Hey, if I remember correctly, you were like that back then."

"Oh shut up."

End of Chapter 10


	11. Chapter 11

The Next Generation

Chapter 11

The Next Test

Because of the incident with the bandits and the Seventh Hokage, Boruto and Sarada decided to increase their workload. They trained every day for at least 6 hours. They worked on everything that Naruto had pointed out to them as well as new things that have caught their interest in their individual studies. As they trained, they didn't really speak to each other, but in their heads, they had the intention of facing off against the Seventh Hokage to show him how strong they are.

Meanwhile, things were winding down to the Chunin Exams. The cities of all of the villages were growing anxious for the long-awaited joint exams. People from all over were visiting everywhere to get a sense of how their fellow villagers were. The Hokage were hard at work making sure everything was ready. The rosters and tests were being finalized with incredible speed, but once they were done, the entire world could feel a huge sigh of relief.

"I can't believe we're done," Naruto said with exhaustion.

"Yeah. Who knew organizing this event would be such a hassle?"

"Well, let's not think about it anymore. All we have to do is watch the spectacle of the next generation at work. Who do you think will come out on top?"

"You know we can't talk about that. Favoritism can't be shown amongst the Hokage."

"Be that as it may, I'm sure the Hokage is cheering for his son."

"Of course he is. he's his son."

"No need to get your panties in a bunch, Darui."

"Well, I'd like to thank all of the Kage for being so cooperative in this process. Now, all we need to do now is enjoy this event as history is being made once again."

"Gaara's right. I'm going home and getting ready for these Chunin Exams." Naruto stood up and exited the Kage building to return home.

When he got home, he heard the sound of Hinata's voice coming from the living room. He walked in to hear her telling Himawari a little story.

"So papa was pinned down and his opponent was towering over him. He didn't know what to do. He could do anything else. He simply closed his eyes and hoped for the best. Thankfully, mama entered the fray and saved your father."

"Ooo. Mama, you're so cool," she exclaimed with a bright smile.

"Yes she is… But her story may be a little off."

"Papa!" Himawari jumped off the couch and ran over to hug his leg.

"Hey sweety, how was your day?"

"It was good. Mama started training my eyes."

"Really? make sure to be careful because the Byakugan is one of the strongest things out there."

"Mm hm. Mama is the strongest."

"Is Boruto home?"

"Um, he said something about training with Sarada today."

"I'm home."

At that moment, the three peeked their heads into the entrance hallway and say Boruto walk in with a groggy look.

"Hey, did you have a good training day?"

"I guess."

"Make sure not to work too hard. the Chunin Exams are around the corner so you don't want to be exhausted for those."

"I know," Boruto said half-heartedly. "I'm tired so I'm going to bed." Boruto slowly slumped the stairs until he made it to his room where he collapsed immediately. Meanwhile, the rest of the family got ready for bed as well.

When the next day came around, Boruto got up as soon as he could and got ready. Once he was done, he ran out of the house and made his way to the Hokage building. On the way there, he saw Sarada waiting for him which meant that it was time to go. The two of them ran towards the Hokage building as quickly as they could. Once they were there, they wasted no time in barging into his room and saying what they wanted.

"Lord Seventh, please accept our challenge to spar with us!"

The room went silent. Inside the office was Naruto, Shikamaru, and Kakashi, but all of them were a little thrown off by this request.

"Spar," Kakashi asked suspiciously.

"Ah, you see, I've been training with them and I told them that they have to get stronger in order to be able to take on strong enemies.

"We have gotten stronger. We can prove it to you. Just accept our request."

Shikamaru and Kakashi looked at Naruto who right back at them with a smile.

"You guys are lucky. Everything is set for the Chunin Exams so I will be able to accept this challenge." Naruto stood up from his chair and walked over to their side of the room. He put his hands on their shoulder and looked back at his advisors. "I'll be back shortly." At that moment, he vanished with his students while the other two guys were left behind.

"We've been getting kind of soft on Naruto about his leisure time."

"Well, what can we do? He needs all the free time he can get. Stuff like this keeps him in a good mood and we need that."

"That's for sure."

…

When they reappeared, the found themselves in the forest where they trained all of this time. they stepped away from Naruto and showed the intention of fighting him. Before they started, he had one last announcement for them.

"This is important for when the Chunin Exams come around so I need you to come at me with everything you got. Act as if I'm trying to kill you."

"We know."

"Alright. One last thing…" Naruto pulled out three Flying Thunder God kunai and looked right at them. "I will only use the ones that I have with me." He then strategically placed them in areas a good distance from each other. "Shall we begin?"

"Yeah."

"Alright then."

Unlike the last time, Boruto and Sarada stood back. They carefully watched Naruto's movements and communicated amongst themselves.

"Boruto, this works out in our favor."

"Yeah. Just stay away from the kunai and we should be good."

"If you won't make the first move then I will." Out of nowhere, Naruto appeared right between them with a kunai in hand.

"He's fast."

Naruto swiped at Sarada, but she managed to block his attack. At the same time, he kicked behind him where Boruto was and sent him flying away. This allowed Naruto to put his attention on Sarada.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Sarada weaved the signs and activated three clones. After that, she pursued Naruto at full speed.

However, Naruto decided to play it cool. he remained by himself and fended off the attacks coming from Sarada and her clones. It only lasted a few seconds until Boruto came in with his first surprise attack.

"Rasengan!"

Naruto looked in the corner of his eye and saw the small ball of wind flowing towards him. However, it disappeared way before it could close to him. Naruto was about to forget about it when his Sage Mode suddenly kicked in. he teleported to one his kunai and watched the air where he just was at explode. This was the first break in their fight as Boruto and Sarada regrouped.

"I see you guys have been training hard."

"You haven't seen anything yet."

At that moment, the both of them pulled out a barrage of kunai and threw at Naruto. Because the horde of kunai came from two different directions, they ended up colliding and flying around uncontrollably. However, Naruto kept his cool. He closed his eyes and immediately engaged his Sage Mode. With this power now active, he was able to easily weave through the sea of metal until he was clear. That's when he looked back at them to reveal his first trick.

"Those eyes…"

"It's just like the time when those bandits attacked us."

"It's only fitting since you guys used your first trick shot. I can guarantee that you're next one won't work on me."

Boruto and Sarada knew that they had to activate their plan now. When it came to chakra, they knew that they would lose if this fight lasted for too long. That's when they nodded to each other and initiated their plan.

The two attacked him on both sides, leading him around the forest. All the while, their targets were the kunai. Every time they passed one, one of them would pick it up. This process went on until there was only one left. This was when Boruto broke away for the last one. Sarada then prepared for a big attack

"Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu!"

At that moment, time seemed to slow down. Naruto saw the huge fireball heading right for him. He then looked behind him and saw that Boruto was about to hit his kunai with his Chidori. This then caused him to look around and see his other two kunai in different places. By electrifying the kunai, teleporting to them would be an instant loss so Naruto thought of something else. He teleported back to Sarada while avoiding the ground.

"Rasengan!"

Before Naruto realized it, he saw Boruto throw his special Rasengan. Naruto judged the situation and knew that it was too late to avoid the attack normally.

"We got you this time!"

Naruto reached into his back pocket and pulled out one last kunai. He threw it into the air and called upon one clone. He then teleported to that random kunai. All the while, Boruto and Sarada didn't see this coming at all. Once the two of them were teleported, they flew towards Boruto and Sarada to deliver the final blow. However, it wasn't necessary and blow at all. He had his Rasengan aimed at their chest, but didn't do a single thing. He just smiled and disarmed himself entirely.

"I win." His clone disappeared and his Sage Mode dissipated. Meanwhile, Boruto and Sarada collapsed in defeat.

"Damn! I thought we had it this time!"

"Don't get mad. That was a fantastic fight. You guys actually made me think about the situation. That shows improvement."

"Really?!" Sarada's face lit up with joy.

"Of course."

Meanwhile, Boruto was still a little mad. It was good that he was improving, but he wanted to beat his dad. He was so sure that his plan would have worked. He just didn't take into consideration how many kunai Naruto really had on him.

"I do need to say one thing… You two are definitely ready for the Chunin Exams." He suddenly stuck out his fist and smiled. "Go knock 'em dead. I'll be watching proudly."

Without wasting a second, Sarada ran over to him and accepted the gesture. However, Boruto was still on the ground.

"Hey Boruto, get over here. Lord Seventh just gave us a compliment."

Boruto turned his head in frustration.

"You fought well, Boruto."

Suddenly, Boruto turned his head and saw that Naruto was only looking at him. His fist was aimed at him and only him. This time, Boruto felt different about the whole thing. He got off the ground and walked over to his dad.

"So you will be watching?"

"Of course I will."

"Fine." Boruto slammed his fist into Naruto's and gave him the best smile he could for the situation.

"I know you guys will do great."

End of Chapter 11


	12. Chapter 12

The Next Generation

Chapter 12

A Pinch of the Truth

It doesn't happen often, but today was a special day. It was a national holiday; the day of the Five Great Nations. Everywhere, the Five Great Nations celebrated the day that they were victorious against the late Akatsuki. No ninja work was held. However, there were parades and celebrations all day.

For the Hidden Leaf, it was all about celebrating the strength of Naruto and Sasuke. After all, they were the ones to thank for defeating Kaguya and restoring the world back to the way it was supposed to be. Now, they were making sure the village look nice and vibrant for the premiere of Naruto and Sasuke once again. the interesting about this was that even though they were equals now, no one really ever saw them together. Today was that one exception and they were all really excited.

"Hey mom, where's dad?"

"Um, I think he's at the Hokage office. I haven't seen him today."

"Are you serious? Today is supposed to be his one free day. Why is he over there?"

"Boruto, just calm down. I'm sure he'll join us as soon as he can."

"He better, or else I'll never forgive him."

Back at the Hokage office, Naruto was meeting with the ANBU forces to go over the previsions for today's event.

"Does everybody understand?"

"Yeah!" They stood at attention and then vanished to their positions. A few seconds after they left, Shikamaru entered the office, shocked to see Naruto standing there.

"Hey, what are you doing here? You're not supposed to be here."

"What is that supposed to mean? I'm the Hokage and this is my office."

"Idiot! You know what I mean. Today is a holiday for all ninjas. Go home and rest," he said as he tried pushing Naruto out of the room.

"Calm down. I will go. I just need to make sure of a few things."

"What things? I'm pretty sure that those things can wait."

"No they can't. It's for the safety of the village."

"You're being ridiculous. Today is a momentous day, especially for you. You need to stop whatever it is that you're trying to do and just go home. Enjoy this day. After all, we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you." Those words definitely spoke to Naruto as he started to lean towards the door. The only bad thing was that something stopped his progress. One of the ANBU returned with urgent news.

"Hokage-sama, we have an issue."

"Already?"

"What are you talking about? What issue?" Shikamaru was so confused, but he was forced to remain confused as Naruto left the room without saying a single word to him.

The two of them reappeared just outside the village where a huge mass of people were running towards the village. Naruto asked what was going on and they told him that it appeared to be a rogue mission. The intent was that these people were going to use this holiday to strike fear into the people of the village. Thankfully, Naruto wasn't going to let that happen. He lowered his body and prepared to fight. His goal, along with everyone else's among the ANBU, was to stop all outside hostilities from entering the village.

For Naruto, the fighting was pretty simple. The only bad thing was that they had the numbers to triumph of the Hidden Leaf's. That's when he knew that it was best to start taking things seriously. He summoned numerous clones and had them spread out around the perimeter of the village. After a while, Naruto came across a rather stronger ninja. He met face-to-face with him, but ended up victorious as expected.

"What are you doing here?"

"That's none of your concern, Jinchuuriki."

Naruto tightened his grip.

"What did you call me?"

"You know…" The ninja struggled to get his words out as Naruto's grip was becoming more restraining. "You shouldn't put this much attention on me when we know where your family is." He suddenly looked up with a devious grin.

"You won't touch my family."

"Don't be too confident. You have no idea how many of us are there."

Naruto couldn't stall any longer. He vanished and reappeared in front of his house. He immediately saw that the front door was broken into. That's when he clenched his fist and vanished again.

Meanwhile, Hinata and her two kids were being cornered by a couple of ninjas. Boruto and Himawari were getting a little scared, but Hinata had her Byakugan activated, ready to fight. That's when Naruto appeared out of nowhere and disabled all of the assailants.

"Papa!"

"Dad, how…"

"It doesn't matter. Are you guys alright?" he knelt down in front of them and gave them a little look over before confirming their safety. "Hinata, what happened?"

"I don't know. They just broke in and said that they were going to get their revenge on the Hokage."

"Okay. We need to get out of here now." He reached down to grab Hinata's hand when he was suddenly sent flying through the house and into the neighbors' homes.

"Naruto! Boruto, Himawari, come with me." Hinata grabbed their hands and took them outside. "We need to get to the Hokage building. We'll be safe there." They started to run towards the building when the three of them started to see that they were getting surrounded. Another moment wen by when Hinata suddenly felt a sting at the back of her neck. She reached for the pain and pulled out a small needle. "Get behind me." She tried activating her Byakugan, but nothing happened. "Huh?" She tried it again, but nothing happened.

At that moment, a huge hoard of ninjas ran at them seized them. They all tried to struggle as best as they could, but it was no use. Their numbers were just too great. Once they were in their possession, they smuggled them out of the village and into the forest just outside.

"Captain, we got them!"

"Good. Let's get out of here!"

Boom! Out of nowhere, a huge explosion happened right next to the main group. It was Naruto in his Nine-Tails mode, furious with what was happening around him.

"Let them go!"

"Dad?" Boruto couldn't believe what he was witnessing. He saw his dad engulfed in some form of chakra that he's never seen before.

"I won't ask a second time. Let them go."

"You're so stupid to think that you have the advantage. You're outnumbered 100 to 1. Let us leave peacefully or this one gets it." He suddenly grabbed Himawari by the hair and pulled her towards him. He then placed a kunai right under her chin. "It's your call."

"Papa!"

"It's alright Himawari. Papa's gonna get you out of there." Naruto calmly scanned the area and saw where everyone was. He also knew that this was the forest where all of his special kunai were located. This was enough for him to figure out the solution to this little problem. He slapped his hands together and closed his eyes.

"What? You gonna pray now. Haha!"

At that moment, hundreds of clones appeared within the enemy ranks and disabled them within the blink of an eye. At the same time, Naruto summoned one more clones next to Himawari. It engulfed her in its chakra and then blew away the man with his Rasengan. After that guy was done, the clone returned to the rest of his family and guided them to the Hokage building. All of the while, Boruto was watching the entire thing. To him, he didn't even think that any of that was possible. All of his training allowed him to create three clones. Naruto just made hundreds. Naruto also looked and felt different to Boruto as he was engulfed by that strange chakra. He wanted to know everything about it, but he knew that it just wasn't the right time to ask.

Once they made it to the Hokage building, Naruto's clone gave the reassurance and then disappeared.

"Mama? Is Papa going to be alright?"

"Of course he is sweety. He is the Hokage, after all."

"Yeah. Dad is the strongest ninja."

Hinata looked at him and couldn't help but smile. She knew that this sparked a change in Boruto. Unfortunately, she hasn't been able to watch the change happen, but she did know that something inside of him was changing.

A few minutes went by when Naruto finally returned to his family. He knelt down in front of them and gave them one last check before speaking a word.

"I'm sorry. I should have been at the house before any of this happened."

"It's alright, dear. We were just fine because we had you to protect us."

"Yeah, papa is super strong and super cool."

"Haha, thank you Himawari." He picked her up in his arms. "What about you, Boruto? Are you okay?"

"Dad, how the heck did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"You like, beat all of those guys in like the blink of an eye. You have got to teach me that so I can use that when we're on missions and stuff."

"Boruto, this isn't the time for that. You could have been hurt."

"Yeah, but I wasn't so what's the problem?"

"Boruto… You need to realize that I won't be able to be there all of the time."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know what that means. I have work so I…"

"So what? Being Hokage is more important than us? That's ridiculous. You haven't changed at all."

"What are you talking about?"

"I thought you changed by taking me and Sarada in as students, but I guess I was wrong. You're just the same old loser who's the Hokage." At that moment, Boruto stormed out of the room. At the same time, Hinata tried running after him, but Naruto stopped her before she could. All he gave her was a small shake of the head before letting her go.

End of Chapter 12


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